FY2006 Department of Education Appropriations (7-18-05)

Untitled Document

The primary interest for the geoscience community in funding for
the Department of Education
(DoEd) is the treatment of science education. When the No
Child Left Behind Act was signed into law on January 8, 2002,
it transformed the way in which the federal government funds elementary
and secondary math and science education. In the past, math and science
education was funded through the Eisenhower National Programs, which
included the Eisenhower
Professional Development Grants provided to each state, the Eisenhower
National Clearinghouse (ENC), and
the Eisenhower
Regional Mathematics and Science Education Consortia. The fiscal
year (FY) 2004 budget request would eliminate funding for the ENC
in keeping with separate legislation passed in November 2002 to restructure
the former DoEd Office of Educational Research and Improvement into
the new Institute
of Education Sciences. The No Child Left Behind Act also established
Math and Science Partnerships (MSP) as a DoEd program to provide support
for improving math and science education. A Math and Science Partnership
program was also established at the National Science Foundation (NSF)
and although the MSPs have the same name they are allocated in different
ways and use different, but complementary approaches to improve math
and science education. For more information, see the American
Institute of Physics FYI 2003-84.

The Department of Education budget request is down about one percent,
from $56.6 billion in fiscal year (FY) 2005 to $56 billion in FY2006.
However, several programs are slated to be eliminated and/or combined
to provide states greater flexibility in using the federal funds.

The budget proposal increases Title II, Part B, Math and Science
Partnerships to $269 million, increase of $90.4 million, or 51 percent,
over the 2005 level, but restricts $120 million for the Secondary
Education Mathematics Initiative, a competitive grant program to be
administered by the Department of Education. This creates a net decrease
in funding available to the states in FY2006 over the FY2005 allocations.
The $120 million in funds for Secondary Education Mathematics Initiative
is part of the High School Intervention Initiative.

To ensure that a high school diploma is a ticket to success in the
21st century, the President is proposing the High School Intervention
Initiative, which will expand the application of No Child Left Behind
principles to high-school grades to improve high school education
and raise achievement, particularly the achievement of students most
at risk of failure. The new initiative combines a number of categorical
programs in order to give states and districts more flexibility and
contains stronger accountability mechanisms. Vocational and Adult
Education, including the Tech-Prep Education State Grants and the
Tech-Prep Demonstration program, is eliminated in the budget proposal.
Under the Administration's Program Assessment Rating Tool (PART),
Vocational Education State Grants was rated ineffective because it
has produced little or no evidence of improved outcomes for students
despite decades of federal investment. The $1.3 billion in funding
is shifted to fund the High School Intervention Initiative. States
and school districts would be able to use the funds for vocational
education, tech-prep programs, and other purposes, depending on state
and local needs and priorities.

The proposed Teacher Incentive Fund would provide $450 million in
state formula grants to reward effective teachers and to offer incentives
for highly qualified teachers to teach in high-poverty schools. The
remaining $50 million would fund competitive grants to state educational
agencies, LEAs, and non-profit organizations for the design and implementation
of performance-based compensation systems to develop effective models
that other districts could adopt to improve teacher compensation systems.
There are few incentives for good teachers to seek assignment to or
remain in high-poverty schools; such schools are often forced to rely
on the least qualified faculty, including those hired with only emergency
or other temporary credentials. The Teacher Incentive Fund is designed
to stimulate closer alignment of teacher compensation systems with
better teaching, higher student achievement, and high-need schools.

The new Adjunct Teacher Corps Initiative would have a budget of $40
million and would draw on the skills of well-qualified individuals
outside of the public education system to meet specialized teaching
needs in secondary schools. Instead of the usual focus on certification
or licensure of specialized teachers, the initiative would concentrate
on helping schools find experienced professionals who would be able
to provide real-world applications for some of the abstract mathematical
concepts being taught in the classroom and, in some cases, provide
individuals to teach temporarily in hard-to-fill positions. Initiative
funds would be used to make competitive grants to partnerships of
school districts and appropriate public or private organizations to
create opportunities for professionals to teach specific high-school
courses in the core academic subjects, particularly in mathematics
and the sciences. Adjunct teachers might teach one or more courses
on the school site on a part-time basis, teach full-time in secondary
schools while on leave from their jobs, or teach courses that would
be available on-line or through other distance learning arrangements.

The budget request contains a number of higher education programs
as well. A record request of $13.7 billion for the Pell Grant program
will increase the maximum grant to $4,150 and help an estimated 5.5
million low-income students pay for their higher education. It also
provides $50 million for the new Presidential Math-Science Scholars
program that will provide up to $5,000 to low-income students pursuing
math and science studies. It will make permanent the increase in loan
forgiveness from $5,000 to $17,500 for highly qualified math, science
and special education teachers who serve low-income communities.

Finally, the budget would provide $40.2 million for need-based scholarships
and fellowships to postsecondary students under the Javits Fellowships
and Graduate Assistance in Areas of National Need (GAANN) programs,
as well as $22.2 million for the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary
Education (FIPSE) to support a wide-range of projects to reform and
improve postsecondary education.

House Action

On June 16, 2005, the House Appropriations Committee passed the Labor,
Health and Human Services and Education spending bill. Within the
bill, the Department of Education received a $118 million increase
over FY2005 funding levels for a total of $56.7 billion, which is
$467 million more than the President's request.

For the Department of Education's (DOEd) Math and Science Partnership
program, the committee increased the budget to $190 million, a boost
of $11 million over last year's allocation, but far below the $90.4
million increase proposed by the President. However, the committee
decided against the President's proposal to reserve $120 million of
these funds for the Secondary Education Mathematics Initiative, which
would have lowered state grants overall and justified a transfer of
funds away from a similar Math and Science Partnership program under
the National Science Foundation (NSF).

For Vocational and Technical Education, the committee gave a budget
of just over $1 billion in basic State grants, the same amount appropriated
in FY2005. The President proposed to eliminate this program and transfer
the funds into a high school reform program called the High School
Intervention Initiative. The House ultimately denied the President's
proposed $1.24 billion High School Intervention Initiative program
on the grounds that the program had not yet been authorized. It did,
however, choose to eliminate funding for Tech-Prep Education State
Grants and the Tech-Prep Demonstration program as requested by the
President.

The committee matched the President's request and FY2005 budget by
providing $2.92 billion for the Improving Teacher Quality program.
From this fund, the Teachers Incentives Fund received $100 million
toward a pilot program to develop and implement innovative ways to
provide financial incentives for teachers and principals who raise
student achievement and close the achievement gap in some of the highest-need
schools. The committee's budget falls $400 million short of the President's
request of $500 million for this initiative.

The bill provides $1.9 billion for higher education programs, a
decrease of $1.8 million from FY2005 appropriations and over $7 million
more than the President's request. The Pell Grant program received
an increase of $1 billion above FY2005 levels and $184 million above
the President's request. Maximum awards would rise to $4100, the highest
level ever seen. Matching the President's request, reading programs
received a funding level of $1.2 billion. These funds will employ
scientific research-based reading programs to combat reading difficulties.

The Javits fellowship program received $9.8 million in appropriations,
the same as the President's request and the FY2005 budget. The Javits
program provides institutions with federal support for students pursing
doctoral degrees in the arts, humanities and social sciences. For
the graduate assistance in areas of national need (GAANN) program,
the committee recommended $30 million, matching the budget request
and the FY2005 level. Also included in the bill is $27 million toward
the Fund for the Improvement of Education (FIE), totaling $387 million
below the FY2005 budget and $129 million below the requested budget.

For access of H.R.109-143, visit thomas.loc.gov
for the full committee report.

On July 14, 2005, the Senate Appropriations Committee passed the
Labor, Health and Human Services and Education spending bill. Within
the bill, the Department of Education received a $118 million increase
over fiscal year (FY) 2005 funding levels for a total of $56.7 billion,
which is $467 million more than the President's request.

The Senate committee decided that no changes would be made to the
Department of Education's Math and Science Partnership (MSP) program
from the current FY2005 funding level of $178.6 million. This amount
is $90.4 million less than the budget request, but does not include
the Bush Administration's proposal to transfer funds from the National
Science Foundation or reserve $120 million within the account for
a competitive awards program designed to improve math achievement
in high schools. The Senate's proposal is $11.4 million less than
what the House recommended in June.

Similar to the House recommendation, the Senate committee denied
the President's proposal to eliminate Vocational Education programs
and transfer the funds into a new High School Intervention Initiative,
primarily because this initiative is so far unauthorized by Congress.
The senate restored funding for vocational education to $1.3 billion,
roughly $20 million below the current fiscal year level. For other
vocational and technical education programs, the Senate stuck close
to FY2005 funding levels, eliminating only the Tech-Prep Education
Demonstration Program based on incomplete program evaluations. Funding
for national research programs, which include funds for the State
Scholars program and support for vocational and technical educators,
would total $9.3 million under the Senate proposal, $2 million less
than the FY2005 enacted level.

The Senate also matched the $2.92 billion proposed for "Improving
Teacher Quality" in the House appropriations bill and the Administration
recommendations. This amount is also comparable to the FY 2005 enacted
level. Established under the No Child Left Behind Act, the program
is designed to help states ensure that all teachers of core academic
subjects are `highly qualified' by the end of the 2005-2006 school
year. The committee explains that, under the proposed amount, "funding
for programs that specifically support high-quality professional development
for teachers and school leadership will have increased by 40 percent
since passage of the No Child Left Behind Act." The committee
added that their recommendation for fiscal year 2006 includes nearly
$3.6 billion "for such activities in recognition of the critical
role that these individuals occupy in educating the Nation's children
and the significant academic benefit that students may derive from
the presence of a highly qualified teacher in their classroom."

For Pell Grant awards in the 2006-2007 academic year, the Senate
committee recommended $13 billion, roughly $800 million above the
FY2005 enacted level and similar to the House recommendation. The
Committee indicated that it is "very supportive" of the
President's proposal to increase the Pell Grant maximum award using
mandatory funds, as the proposal "would have guaranteed $100
increases in the Pell Grant maximum award for each of the next 5 years."

"Unfortunately," the committee report continues, "the
Budget Resolution rejected this proposal and proposed that an increase
in the maximum award should compete against funding for other student
aid programs, vocational and technical education and other activities
funded in this bill. The Committee encourages the Administration to
make this worthwhile proposal again next year and take necessary action
to ensure its adoption."

For access of S.109-103, visit thomas.loc.gov for the full committee
report.